Rogue River 2016

Cheryl's News from Camp Webegone
Friday, June 10, 2016

Rogue River by Natural Bridge

With a rainy winter and a moderate amount of snow (below average though), the Rogue River is very full with lots of ruckus, rushing, turbulent water.

Rogue River by the footbridge 2016

The photo I took last year of this spot, the large rock was not covered with water.

Weather Update: We have had a little bit of everything. A few days of extreme heat, humidity and mosquitoes. I was miserable and began to question why I was volunteering at Natural Bridge Campground. That passed and was followed by a one-and-a-half to two hour thunderstorm that included lightening, rain and hail. No mosquitoes though. Yeah! My bites have bites. Today we are chasing sunny spots to warm up. The high will be about 63 degrees. Tomorrow morning should be in the high 30's. Extreme heat to extreme cold. Think I'll stay in the trailer tomorrow morning. One of the challenges and joys of Camp Webegone is experiencing the weather first hand. A sunny warm day is indeed a great joy.

Our First Week in Paradise

Cheryl's News from Camp Webegone

June 3, 2016

Weather: Sunny and warm each day

White Iris

May is the time of the white flowers. In the tree canopy, dozens of dogwood trees are in full bloom. Vanilla leaf blooms cover a large part of the campground. False solomon seal blooms dot the forest floor. There are hundreds of white iris is bloom. There is the odd bit of color in bloom, three calypso orchids. 

Calypso Orchid

Warm sunny days, cool nights, vistas of flowers in bloom and dappled forest light. We are in paradise.

Cheryl's News from LaPine, Oregon
May 24, 2016

A brief update to let you all know our whereabouts for the summer.

Rich, Mimi and I will arrive at Natural Bridge Campground in southern Oregon Wednesday, May 25, 2016.

We will be staying at Natural Bridge until the end of September, October 1 at the latest.

Visitors welcome and greatly appreciated. If you plan to visit, give us a heads up.

Mimi camping in LaPine. She hates the harness!

Cheryl's News enroute to Camp Webegone

May 24, 2016

Lava River Cave, Bend/Sunriver area

Rich, Cheryl and Mimi enroute to their summer camp at Natural Bridge stopped and camped for seven days of vacation in LaPine, Oregon. After resting for a few days they were ready for an adventure and visited the nearby Lava River Cave.

Rich descending into Lava River Cave

There really are no adequate adjectives to describe the cave. AMAZING, amazing, amazing is as close as it gets. The cave is just short of a mile long. A tiny section at the end of the cave is about four feet in height. A small section in the middle is about five and a half feet in height. The rest of the cave is 58' in height. At it's widest, 48'. At no point could I touch both sides of the cave.

Cave wall

And DARK. No light what so ever. Rich and I were very lucky. For about 20 minutes or so we were the only folks in the cave. We turned off our flashlight and lantern, twice. Standing beside each other I could not discern even a tiny speck of Rich. Dark. Standing in total darkness in the womb of mother earth, we listen to drops of water falling to the cave floor. Drips behind us, in front of us, beside us, and one discordant drip landing on Rich's jacket. The music of mother earth. The song of the cave.

Heceta Lighthouse from Cheryl

Cheryl's News from Heceta Lighthouse

March 31, 2016

View looking south from Lighthouse

Having participated in many tours, I had a clear sense (in my mind, at least) of what makes for a dull tour. And one of the key variables, to me, was always how connected the guide was to the audience - how the guide engaged them and determined what is of interest to them to hear about.

Okay, so, public speaking is not my forte. I bumbled along. It's way more difficult than you even imagine. And then there's the gaffe. With impromptu public speaking, there is always the moment you make a gaffe. It's like it's inevitable. So, mine was saying: “ the lighthouse keeper and his wives.” Oops!  

By the end of our stay, though, I think I had reached a point where I was able to give a reasonably interesting tour of the lighthouse. Thankfully, whew.

Prior to arriving at Heceta Lighthouse, I had, of course, imaged what our job would be like. I imaged that we would be indoors for our shift. This is not the case. Rather, we are outdoors unless we are giving a tour. As you may recall, March has had above normal rainfall. Rich and I scored again - volunteering outside during heavy rains. 

During heavy rain, at least there is a nearby staff building where we can be out of the rain and warm up. For the most part, though, Rich and I and the other volunteers (there were three or four of us), we stand outside. Stand outside in sun, rain and wind. We dress appropriately. On cold and wet days, I wear so many layers I can barely bend my knees or bend over. 

Hecta Head Lighthouse Nautilus looking up the stairwell

Now, as our time at Heceta Lighthouse comes to an end, there is a little bit of sadness leaving an area of such stunning beauty and leaving the other volunteers. Amongst those volunteering for the state, the volunteers form a community. A much needed community/family as we each travel across the USA, for the most part estranged from our families.

Even though we leave Heceta Lighthouse with heavy hearts, Rich and I joyously look forward to the end of May when we return to our usual summer camp at Natural Bridge Campground - the place that has become our Summer home.

Cheryl

Trailer Life

March 19, 2016

In more personal news, back in February we briefly considered getting a larger trailer. Tight quarters here, you know.

But after looking for a while at what was there, we decided we like what we have, and we can do a few modifications to address some of the needs we were looking to meet. And anyway, we have gotten more adept at maneuvering ourselves around the tight quarters of the trailer. Plus, we are always finding ways to store things that works better.

It feels good to make that decision, to have that choice complete and the path ahead clear as we begin preparing to embark on our journey to our next destination.

Our Winter Camp

Winter Camp, Heceta Lighthouse

March 18, 2016

Heceta Head Lighthouse

We arrived at our winter camp on March 2^nd, which was a day later than planned. The day before, we were at Whalers Rest Thousand Trails campground. We were staying there for a few days, so we could be tourists for a while. When working, we find we do not get out to the sights. Though that may, at least in part, be because we have had such gorgeous sights at our work, so after work we just need to chill out.

Being a tourist takes energy!

But anyway, when we set to leave, we had a wind warning of 60 mpr winds, and we figured that driving even the short distance to the lighthouse might not be wise. I think the wind has been the most challenging weather-wise, as we had another big windstorm the other night. But so far, our trailer has always been in a well-protected spot, and so we have not faced the brunt of the storms. Which has been a great relief.

The site is gorgeous with incredible views - of particular note are the occasional whale spout and sealions barking to us. We are in sight of the Sea Lion Caves and there are at least a hundred sealions fishing, playing or basking on the water. The drive in either direction is filled with beauty. I had forgotten just how much, as it has been a long time since I last visited here.

We've been here for a couple of days now. Working at the lighthouse has been delightful. It took us a couple days to become "experts", and we now give short talks with confidence and knowledge. History here is interesting.

The lighthouse was opened in 1894. It had 3 keepers who lived on site with their families. One of their homes is still here and used as a bed-and-breakfast inn. Each day we learn new things as people ask questions we do not know answers to, or they offer us new information. Being early March, and mostly windy and rainy, we have mostly only had small groups, and we find them to be very appreciative for our tours.

The first day we did not dress quite warm enough. You spend a lot of time in the wind here, and we did not realize the amount of energy that took till we got home and just absolutely crashed. Since then, we have doubled (or even tripled) our layers, and we are smart enough now to get out of the wind when it really starts to blow.

Recently I have been able to appreciate more deeply the impact of roads and electricity. The road here was completed in 1932, and up til that time the community here was quite isolated. Trips to Florence were either by boat or by a long trip on a wagon on dirt tracks that often were impassible in the rain. It is amazing to me to imagine the process of anchoring off the bay and using boats to go through the surf to deliver materials and essentials to the lighthouse keepers. 

But then, suddenly after just a few years of hard road building, the keepers here were minutes away from Florence. What a change that must have been!

Prior to 1934 (which was the year when electricity arrived here), the lighthouse light was a kerosene lamp, which had to be tended to each night and shut down during the day. This required 3 people to manage - trimming the wick, hauling kerosene up to the lamp, keeping it all clean, and such. The arrival of electricity eventually eliminated one keeper job, and in 1963 the lighthouse became totally automatic. And, of course, after that the lighthouse keeper position was obsolete.

A short existence, but very interesting, chapter in the life of Oregon.